Police Call The Rapists’ Encounter An Act Of Self-Defence

Four accused in the rape and murder of Hyderabad vet were killed in an encounter on Friday. The Cyberabad Police Commissioner VC Sajjanar spoke to the media about the shootout. Sajjanar said that the four accused, Mohammed Arif, Chintakunta Chennakeshavulu, Jollu Shiva, and Jollu Naveen had been in the custody of police for the past 10 days and were being interrogated by the police. The accused finally confessed to the crime and were taken to the site where Disha’s body was found, to reconstruct the scene.

The time of the encounter is said to be somewhere around 5:45 AM to 6:15 AM. The Commissioner said that Mohammed Arif was the first one to fire at the police. The police were also attacked by stones and sticks. The accused snatched the weapons, which were already in ‘unlocked’ position, from the police. "When we reached the spot the accused attacked us using stones and managed to snatch our guns. You can see that the accused are still lying there with the weapons. As a result, we had to engage in an encounter with them in which they were shot dead," he said.

According to the commissioner, there were about ten police officers with the accused during the time of encounter. The police have also seized two weapons from the accused. "We have recovered the victim's cell phone from the spot," he added. The commissioner also said that the accused were involved in many other crimes in Karnataka. He told media that the encounter shows that the law has done its duty. The bodies of the accused have been shifted to a local government hospital for post-mortem.

Talking about the National Human Rights Commission of India (NHRC), Sajjanar said, "We will answer to whoever takes cognizance, Telangana government, NHRC and to all concerned". The human rights body said the encounter is a matter of concern and needs to be probed carefully.

The NHRC has asked the Director-General to immediately send a team for an investigation into the shootout. The central government has also sought a report from the state government over the custodial killings.